A decade after the housing bubble burst, Philly homes still below 2006 peak

Real estate in Philadelphia is a buzzworthy commodity, as the city's housing has reportedly been named one of the best buys in the U.S. and is seeing a rapid growth in demand and prices.

Nonetheless, the most current housing data from real estate site Zillow shows that the majority of Philadelphia’s housing has a median home value still 5.2 percent lower than that of September 2006, when Philly was at its peak price during the housing bubble. At that time, the median home value in Philadelphia was $230,000.

Though the current median home value in Philly, $218,500, is up 4 percent from this time last year, the market is still on a slow rise.

Additionally, despite numerous reports about the rising prices and rising demand surrounding Philadelphia housing, the rest of the country’s housing, in many areas, is still quite far ahead of Philly by comparison.

In cities like San Francisco and Seattle, the median home values have already far surpassed their pre-bubble peak; in San Francisco, the rate is 22.7 percent over, and in Seattle, it’s 18.6 percent above.

Denver led the cities surveyed, with a current median home value a full 57.3 percent above its pre-recession peak in April 2006.

Philadelphia's current post-recession levels currently surpass those of other major cities, including New York; Washington, D.C.; and Chicago. The city's growth is closest in range to that of Minneapolis and Milwaukee.